I Must Not Fear
by Alex E. Andras
Summary: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.' A series of stories examining the fears of each of the Fantastic Four.
1. Sue

Sue (Arsonphobia)

"Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is." **---- German Proverb**

"It has to be the cloud; it's fundamentally altered our DNA," Sue said as they stepped through the double doors into the last corridor to Ben's room.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Reed replied "We need a massive amount of evidence before making that leap."

"Whoa. Guys, look!" Johnny's voice now, excitement evident in his voice. Reed and Sue both spun, and their eyes widened to see Johnny, still stood there with that ridiculous pink jacket wrapped around his middle, fire flickering from his thumb like a flame from a lit candle. He toddled over to them, movements restricted by the jacket, and as he stopped, clicked his fingers, and then again twice more. The flame went out with each click. He looked at them, grinning madly

"Now picture that, but everywhere," he started, his hands fully exaggerating his claims "It was everywhere. WHAT?" he added, seeing Sue's wide-eyed look and Reed's curiosity. Sue twisted her gaze from her brother to Reed, who looked back meekly.

"The cloud has fundamentally altered our DNA," he admitted.

Johnny cheered behind them as they began their walk again, and Sue risked a glance backwards, happy to not see the flames covering her brother. She did not want to see the flames dancing from his thumb again, in fact, she did not want to picture the flames _everywhere_, as he had so insisted. However the images, the memories, assaulted her mind, causing her to shiver involuntarily...

A cry of awe went up as another firework whistled up into the sky, and exploded in a flash of multicoloured sparks. Johnny shrieked in delight, clapping his hands and jumping up and down. Sue reached over and clutched his hand, tugging at it until he looked at her

"Stay by me, Johnny," she ordered him "Don't get lost."

"He's perfectly safe with us, Susie," Mary laughed, she was wrapped up in Franklin's arms, cheek rosy with the cold and her eyes bright with almost as much excitement as Johnny had. "Laura and Tara are over by the burger van, why don't you go and play with them?" the girl hesitated, torn between watching over her brother or playing with her friends, but their father was handing Johnny a sparkler, the five year old grinning as he gripped the sparkler in one gloved hand.

"Okay, mummy," she said, giving Johnny a smile before skipping off. Mary watched her go, and then turned her attention back to her youngest, who had skipped forwards, closer to the large bonfire he was being so frequently enchanted by, the small wand flickering through the air as he laughed at the light trailing behind it.

A loud shout from across the bonfire caught her attention, and Mary looked up to see a group of teenagers laughing and pushing each other. One made a dare to another, and something was hurled from a hand towards the fire.

It was only as it made it's way into the heart of the bonfire that Mary recognised it for a beer can.

"Johnny!" she screamed, pulled from her husband's arms and stepping forwards. Another firework screamed up into the air, and the explosion was echoed by one from the fire as the can exploded, sending boiling beer and burning embers flying at the crowd.

There was a moment's silence, only the crackle of flames and the remains of the firework heard, and then several screams set up. The loudest and most pained of those from the little five year old who had been stood closest to the fire at the time, whose clothes had quickly been dosed in flames.

"Johnny!" Mary screamed again, her voice mingling with a shriller cry from the boy's sister, and the woman ran forwards, only to be grabbed by Franklin's strong arms. Another man jumped forwards, blanket held in his arms, and bundled the screaming child into his arms before rolling him on the ground. The flames were doused quickly, leaving a sobbing child wrapped within the blanket. Mary was released from her husband's arms, and she fell to her knees beside her son, not daring to touch him. Sue kicked free from the man who had restrained her from running to her burning brother, and she stopped beside her mother, tears running down her face in quiet streams.

"Mommy?" she quavered

"Oh Johnny," Mary whispered, ignoring her daughter "I'm sorry, mommy's so sorry."

"Mary?" Franklin was beside them now, gathering his sobbing daughter into a hug "An ambulance is on its way. And a police car," he turned his attention to his daughter now, seeing that his wife was still ignoring him, and hugged the girl close "He'll be alright Susie. He'll be okay."


	2. Johnny

Johnny (Aquaphobia)

Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it, he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger - **Francis Quarles**** (1592 - 1644)**

Johnny shot through the air over the water, a small flicker of fear trying to override the excitement he felt at being able to fly. Every persons dream, and he was accomplishing it, maybe covered in flame and being chased by a heat-seeking missile that was definitely gaining ground, but flying all the same.

He focussed his attentions on a garbage barge ahead of him, and turned towards it, creating a ball of flame at his hand and swooping low over the surface of the barge, hurling the flame ball into the centre of the barge as he passed, the huge mass of rubbish quickly igniting fully. He stopped as he moved away from the barge, and turned to face it, tearing his eyes from the fascinating fire to the heat-seeker beyond it, praying that it would go for the new target instead…

A smile flickered across his face as the missile dove into the centre of the garbage, and then the smile disappeared as the entire thing exploded, the blast knocking into him, causing his concentration on keeping himself alight to fail, and as he fell, and plunged beneath the water's surface, he wondered if that had been such a good idea…

It took him several moments to get over the shock of the fall, by which time he had gone some distance under the water, and the only way he could tell which way was up and down was from the flickering orange that must be the burning barge.

The panic hit him only a moment after this realisation, causing his chest to constrict and the cold hit him like a wall. The cold is imaginary, he thought to himself, struggling against his thrashing limbs to gain control and pull himself up to the surface, it's all in your head, you haven't felt cold since the cloud, it's all in your head…

"Johnny!" the shout made the eighteen year old turn, and he grinned at his friends standing by the cars behind him, all looking expectantly at him. He turned his eyes back to the lake in front of them, in some ways happy to see it completely deserted, but annoyed that their weren't any girls there for him to talk to.

'_Tonight,_' he reminded himself with a smirk _'You're in a hotel, hotel's have girls'_ He turned back towards the cars, stepping forwards and tugging off his shirt and jeans, throwing both into the back seat of his car.

"Come on!" he shouted, and turned and fled to the water, jumping into it and rising back up to hear his friends shouting as they too leapt in.

"This is boring," Dean said eventually, pulling himself from the water and pulling a beer from the cooler they had brought to the water's edge

"Then let's liven it up a bit," Johnny replied with a grin, dropping beside his childhood friend and cracking open a beer himself. Dean raised an eyebrow, but Johnny merely grinned, taking a swig from the bottle as his eyes roamed the area surrounding the lake.

"Hold this," he said eventually, pushing a half empty bottle into his friend's hand and leaping to his feet. He strode around the edge of the lake, and then grabbed the low branch of a nearby tree.

"Johnny!" Dean called, and his voice was followed by the coaxing of his other friends as he pulled himself further up into the tree, and then eventually scooted out across a limb that reached across the lake, and grinned at his friends as he stood up, balancing out his weight on the now creaking limb, threw his arms out over his head, and dived.

It had not occurred to him how stupid this stunt was. It never did occur to him how stupid any of his stunts were until it was too late. And he had never thought in any way what the lake bed could hide. He only realised as he felt a sharp pain in one foot as he kicked off from the lake bed that diving in may have been a bad idea, and as he kicked his feet, to break the surface of the lake above and examine his aching foot, that he felt something around his other foot, and his movements restricted.

Panicked, he kicked his feet again, finding his foot definitely trapped, and brushed his other foot against his trapped ankle, feeling the vegetation that was wrapped around his foot for a moment, understanding why he could not move.

He tried to shout out then, forgetting he was underwater, and the air in his lungs shot past his eyes in a stream of bubbles, and water filled his mouth. A gut-reaction forced his mouth closed, though his struggles increased, and he tried to fight back the urge to cough, yet eventually he mouth opened again, and more water shot in, filling his lungs.

A touch on his hand made his eyes shoot open, though he couldn't remember closing them, and he stared mutely at the pale, oddly distorted face of Dean, who mouthed something at him as his vision darkened, and his friend moved forwards as he lost consciousness.

Shouting around him, and fingers at his neck brought him around, and he immediately began to cough and choke. Hands twisted him onto his side and allowed him to regurgitate the water that filled his lungs and airways, and for a moment he lay on his side, curled in around himself, gasping for breath and coughing.

"Johnny?" a hoarse voice called hesitantly "Are you alright man?" he didn't try to speak, for his chest and head hurt, and his head felt light, and he thought he might pass out, but he eventually managed a shaky nod, and forced his eyes to open.

Dean was knelt beside him, he forced his eyes to leave his friends midriff to rise to his face, and he examined the face that was so pale that his friends tan seemed to be gone, and his freckles were extremely prominent around wide green eyes.

"Johnny?" Dean asked again, his fingers again went to his neck, and he tried vainly to brush his friend's hand away. His friend smirked, and as Johnny tried to sit up, aided the younger man, and a towel was immediately draped around the shivering boy's shoulders

"Sit still," Dean commanded, he wanted to be a doctor, and was taking this into his commanding stride "You've given us a frickin' scare doing that, and I am not going to try and get you breathing again." He tried to make it look like he would throw up at even the mere idea, but his worry ruined the whole effect "We've found an ambulance, there should be one here soon. Want me to phone your sister?"

"No!" Johnny yelped, and coughed harshly afterwards, fighting back his groan as he head span again "Sue doesn't need to know. Don't tell her. Please." Dean's eyes widened at the words, for Johnny never begged, but he nodded. Johnny however, didn't see the reaction, for he was staring with terrified fascination at the still lake, and he knew it would be some time before he found the courage to face the water again…


	3. Reed

Reed (Astraphobia)

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past. - **Percy Bysshe Shelley**

Reed Richards, the great Mr Fantastic, felt he had no fear. Even as a child, his intelligence had banished the childhood phobias of the dark and monsters in the closet to what they really were, and since he'd reached his teenage years, and especially since his acceptance to MIT and what came after that, he had found himself too busy to find something that he could irrationally fear.

That was, of course, when the beautiful blonde Susan Storm wasn't in his grasp, in his heart, in his head.

Johnny landed lightly on the ground, quickly stepping forwards and catching a desperate hold of his team members, eyes fixed on his sister where she lay in Reed's arms. Reed didn't even notice the return of his powers, just continued to stare down at Sue. She was staring back in silence, and suddenly her head went slack, her chest no longer moving. It took several moments for Reed to realise, and then his eyes filled with tears, the vision of his fiancée blurring. His head tilted up, trying to blink away the tears, but when his head dropped again the tears returned, and were soon spilling down his cheeks as he raised Sue's form, and rested his head against hers, trying to feel her non-existent breath on his neck.

For his greatest fear then was losing her.

Losing her to someone else. Losing her through some fault of his own. Losing her to something even more permanent. Losing her to death.

He had stopped worrying that he would lose her to someone else after he had proposed to her, before that he had many sleepless nights of losing her to the man who had last been close to her. Had feared losing her to Doom. Since he had proposed to her, his insomnia had been related to the fear of losing her to death. That the beautiful woman he held in his arms would die from an illness, or that she would die whilst they were trying to save the world. And since the arrival of the Silver Surfer, since the arrival of Norrin, he had lost even more sleep over the evident threat of the end of the world, and he'd never be able to hold that beautiful woman ever again.

_Reed's head raised again, his eyes suddenly dry, and as he stared at that violent sky his stomach turned, and he turned his eyes to the source of his pain_

_"You've gotta go," he growled at Norrin, but the surfer didn't move, continued to stare at the man and woman on the floor, and he reached out and touched her, and then pulled away again, blinking at the stunned Reed._

_"Treasure each moment with her," the Surfer told him "And tell her she was right, we do have a choice." Reed returned his head to the woman in his arms, slightly aware that the Surfer was moving off, but then Sue moved, and his heart jumped happily. _

The fear of losing that beautiful woman was so strong, so heart felt, that Reed was sure that if he ever lost her, lost her for good, then nothing would ever stop him from joining her.

If Sue died, he was sure that he would die to.


End file.
